Thesis,Osama Abu Safat.Final Version

Sustainability in a rapid urban development
Sustainable building practices in terms of energy
consumption: the case of Dubai’s mega- projects.

Osama Abu-Safat

Stockholm 2007
KTH, Department of Urban Planning and Environment
Division of Urban and Regional Studies
Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan

Master of Science Thesis SoM EX 07-14 0
www.infra.kth.se/sp

Table of Contents

Abstract -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
Acknowledgement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
C h a p t e r I: I n t r o d u c t i o n
1.1 Problem formulation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
1.1.1 General problem field ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4
1.1.2 Specific problem area ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4
1.1.3 Researchable questions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.1.4 Delimitations and Limitations of the Study ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.2 Aim & Objectives ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
1.3 Theoretical frameworks --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
1.4 Methodological approach ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
1.5 Summary of results--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
1.6 Organisation of the thesis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
C h a p t e r II: Co n t e x t
2.1 Background of Dubai’s urban development ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
2.2 The impact of rapid urbanization on ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
2.2.1 The urban environment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11
2.2.2 The energy consumption------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
C h a p t e r III: T h e o r i e s &I m p l i c a t i o n s
3.1 The concept of sustainable development -------------------------------------------------------------------------------15
3.1.1 The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992 ----------------------------------------------- 17
3.1.2 Agenda 21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18
3.1.3 Habitat II------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
3.2 Sustainable building (Green architecture)------------------------------------------------------------------------------20
3.2.1 Introduction & Definition ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20
3.2.2 Principles of sustainable building (Green Architecture)------------------------------------------------------- 21
3.2.3 Examples of sustainable building--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24
3.3 Sustainable use of energy in buildings sector--------------------------------------------------------------------------26
3.4 Tool for Assessing Sustainability ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------28
C h a p t e r IV: Me t h o d o l o g i c a l Ap p r o a c h
4.1 A case study research -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30
4.2 The qualitative dimension------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------30
4.3 The quantitative dimension ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------31
C h a p t e r V: An a l y s i s & Re s u l t s
5.1 Exploring The Palm Jumeirah -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32
5.2 The Trump International Hotel and Tower-----------------------------------------------------------------------------35
5.2.1 The project features ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 35
5.2.2 Attempts for sustainability ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36
5.2.3 An interview--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37
5.2.3.1 Presenting the findings (sustainable features)------------------------------------------------------------- 37
5.2.4 Questionnaire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44
C h a p t e r VI: Di s c u s s i o n & Co n c l u s i o n
6.1 Sustainability in a rapid urban development ---------------------------------------------------------------------------45
6.2 Awareness for sustainability in terms of energy consumption ------------------------------------------------------46
6.3 Conclusion -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------47
6.4 Scientific and practical significance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48
6.5 Recommendations---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48
6.6 Future research ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48

References...............................................................................................................................................................49
List of figures..........................................................................................................................................................51
List of tables............................................................................................................................................................51
Appendices..............................................................................................................................................................52

1

Abstract

The approach of this study is to investigate Dubai’s current building practices- mainly the
mega-projects- and its relation to sustainability issues. Since Dubai and the whole region are
experiencing rapid urbanization trend, there is a need to cope with sustainability dimensions
to mitigate the negative impacts of such urbanization trend on the environment. The study has
been narrowed down to examine such practices in respect to the building energy consumption
and its effect on the environment.

The study covers theories of sustainable development, principles of green architecture,
sustainable use of energy by building sector and a tool for assessing sustainability. Those
approaches have be linked and tested in parallel to a deep investigation of a case study – The
Trump International Hotel and Tower- which is taken place in Dubai’s context.

On the other hand, interviews with key- persons from Atkins Global Consultancy Company
which is responsible of developing The Trump International Hotel and Tower have been
carried out and aimed to obtain qualitative data concerning the development and its
performance in terms of sustainability. Meanwhile, questionnaires have also been distributed
targeted building practitioners in Dubai context.

The study findings show that sustainable building practices in terms of energy consumption
have been acknowledged in the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Other buildings
practices demonstrate a lack of clear understanding of both the concept of sustainable
development and sustainable building (green architecture). It has also been noticed that the
lack of practical experience in adapting innovative systems is observed due to the shortage of
comprehensive educational programmes to enrich practitioners in the building sector with
knowledge for more sustainable building practices – for instance- practical knowledge about
different innovative systems and their properties of conserving energy.

Finally, the study presents general recommendations aimed to improve the current building
performances in term of reducing the energy consumption, improve the knowledge capacity
of sustainable building and increase the overall awareness for sustainable building practices.

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Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement is given to: Tigran Hass for his supervision, Göran Cars and Bosse
Bergman for their examination and my fellow Grammati Triantafyllidou for her opposition on
my thesis work. Further acknowledgement goes to the Associate Director at Atkins Middle
East Miss Lee Morris who has feed me back with significant information about The Trupm
International Hotel and Tower and with whom i have done the main inetrview. I would also
like to acknowledge the main senior directors of Atkins Middle East who are very busy on
their day to day commerial work specially Mr. Edwina Askew – Associate Director,
Communications- for his participation in this thesis work. I would like to thank all persons
who support me with any kind of information that enrich the quality of my thesis work.

Stockholm, May 2007 Osama Abu Safat

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Chapter I: I n t r o d u c t i o n

1.1 Problem formulation

1.1.1 General problem field

Sustainability in a rapid urban development: The concept of sustainability states that there
is a need to improve the living conditions of the present generation without harming the
ability of the future generation to reach their needs. Thus, a balance between social,
economical and environmental aspects is crucial in implementing any urban development
(UN-ESCWA. 2001).

Since cities of Gulf States have experienced rapid urban development, the region appears to
be one of the most rapid developing areas in the world. This development is mostly occurred
in cities (UN-ESCWA. 2001).

Such urbanization trend has many negative impacts on life aspects mainly on the
environmental and the social aspects. Addressing those impacts is endless which could be
mentioned here some of these serious problems such as the environmental deterioration,
which negatively affect living conditions at both local and global scale, high consumption
levels of non-renewable resources e.g. water consumption, elevated pollution rates especially
air which are mainly caused by the increased reliance on private motorized transportation
systems and increasing social inequality that exhaust cities’ environmental support capacities
and worsen insecurity (UN-ESCWA. 2001).

1.1.2 Specific problem area

Sustainable building practices in terms of energy consumption: buildings have a major
impact on the environment both during the construction phase and its use (operation).
In Europe, Buildings consume 50% of material resources, generate 50% of the national waste
production and consume 40% of the energy consumption, while these figures are even higher
in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) (AboulNaga, 2001).

Thus, sustainable building practices are –indeed- significant concern in order to adapt
environmentally friendly buildings. Such concern has been introduced in the Rio Earth
Summit in 1992 on sustainable building practices and management of human settlements.
Issues of energy-efficient design principles, recycling/reuse of buildings materials and other
issues have been presented in that summit (AboulNaga, 2001).

Choosing Dubai’s development as a case study comes from the notion that Dubai city is still
practicing rapidly upward urban development. These developments are accompanying with
Dubai’s stakeholders’ vision of a global competing city especially after adopting a
comprehensive plan to diversify its economy rather than depending on the oil revenues.
Therefore, many requirements of reaching such vision have been taken place in Dubai’s urban
development.

Today, Dubai city is demonstrating mega-projects started from the one billion Burj al Arab
hotel, a man –made palm tree-shaped, the Burj Dubai which is aiming to be the world’s tallest

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tower to the indoor ski slope…and so forth. Real state consulters estimated some 45 billion
dollars in projects under construction.

Since Dubai’s stakeholders have the ambition of creating a status where Dubai will become a
top tourist destination, the number of tourists grew 50 percent to 5.5 million between 2001
and 2004 and the population is expected to be doubled by 2010 than the currently population
of 1.4 million(The United Arab Emirates’ Yearbook,2006).

Such mega-urban development trend has a major consequence on level of energy
consumption and its impact on the urban environment. Therefore, Dubai’s building practices
should be analyzed and evaluated in terms of sustainability.

1.1.3 Researchable questions

How could cities which are practicing a rapid urban development sustain its building
practices in terms of energy consumption?

To what extend those cities are willing to adopt strategies of sustainable use of energy during
the designing phase of the developments?

1.1.4 Delimitations and Limitations of the Study

Delimitations are the restrictions imposed intentionally by the researcher on the research
process. (Hasic, 2004; Rudestam and Newton, 2001)
Sustainability concept covers many integrated issues and aspects regarding social,
environmental, economical and institutional perspectives. Thus, this thesis work deals with
one dimension of the sustainability (the environmental aspect). Other delimitation is the scale
of the study area which covers the building practices in Dubai context. This allows
understanding deeply those practices in terms of sustainability

Limitations, on the other hand, are the restrictions away from the researcher control and
management. (Hasic, 2004; Rudestam and Newton, 2001).
The main limitation here is the time span of investigating the thesis area. This affects covering
issues such as energy efficiency policies in Dubai context. Meanwhile, there were difficulties
of obtaining the environmental impact assessment of The Palm Jumeirah which could give a
wider understanding of the current practices in Dubai context regarding sustainability. On the
hand, the case-study is an ongoing project and unique that affects creating a comparison study
between similar projects in Dubai due to the lack of investigated research. It has to be
mentioned here that the difficulties which faced carrying out interviews with key persons
from the study area could has limited generating results.

1.2 Aim & Objectives

The main objectives of this thesis are: a) evaluating the performance of Dubai’s mega-
projects in terms of sustainability, b) developing Dubai’s building practices in terms of
reducing the energy consumption and c) illustrating the awareness of sustainable practices in
Dubai’s developments.

Answering those concerns is the core of this thesis. Meanwhile, the aim of this thesis is to add
a contribution on the current studies and debates on sustainability issues in Dubai
development.

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1.3 Theoretical frameworks

The main concern in this thesis is sustainability issues in contexts where developments are
occurred in a rapid pattern, particularly in Dubai’s recent developments. Therefore,
sustainability theories have been presented in terms of; defining the concept of sustainable
development linked to events in which such concept and its concerns were highlighted;
demonstrating principles of environmentally-friendly architecture and its applications in form
of two examples of such approach; narrowing down the scale of sustainability investigation to
concentrate on sustainable use of energy in terms of building practices; and ending with
illustrating a tool for measuring sustainable development which may contribute in enhancing
sustainability.

1.4 Methodological approach

To investigate the concerns of the thesis’s dilemma, a main method which is an illustration of
a case study from Dubai’s recent developments has been provided and enforced with an
interview targeted key- persons who are in charged of these developments. Current opinions
of architects who are also in charged of Dubai’s building practices have been surveyed though
carrying out a questionnaire. On the other hand, literature reviews from books, international
reports and articles have also been presented as qualitative approach linked deeply with the
case study in the discussion part.

1.5 Summary of results

Sustainable building practices in terms of energy consumption have been acknowledged in the
Trump International Hotel and Tower. The building reduces its impact on the environment
and the energy consumption through adapting innovative systems into the design process.
Thus, the use of innovative systems integrated to the design of the building’s facades,
mechanical systems, electrical services, solar hot water, material selection and management
has great effect of reducing the energy consumption and consequently the impact on
environment.On the hand, findings from carrying out questionnaires which reflect the
awareness of building practitioners for sustainability in Dubai context show a lack of clear
understanding of both the concept of sustainable development and sustainable building (green
architecture). But, the findings also demonstrate attempts for sustainable features integrated
into the building design- for instance- the use of insulation and the direction of the building.
Those attempts are constrained by the economical aspects of the projects – for instance- by
the limited investment budget of the project which restricts adapting more innovative systems
into the design process.
The findings show the lack of realizing the long term benefits of adapting innovative systems
for reducing the energy consumption into the design process. The lack of practical experience
in adapting innovative systems is observed due to the shortage of comprehensive educational
programmes to enrich practitioners in the building sector with knowledge for more
sustainable building practices – for instance- practical knowledge about different innovative
systems and their properties of conserving energy.

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1.6 Organisation of the thesis

The organisation of this thesis work is based on IMRAD style (Introduction, Method, Results
and Discussion). The thesis consists of six chapters; chapter one presents the introduction
part which covers the problem formulation of the study area split into general and specific
problem areas, Researchable questions, delimitations and limitations of the study, aim and
objectives, theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches. The chapter, meanwhile,
has been ended with a summary of results followed by presenting the organization of the
thesis.

Chapter two covers the context of the study area; the back ground of Dubai’s urban
development and the impact of this rapid urbanisation on both environment and energy
consumption. This chapter provides the reader with a wider view of the study area.

Chapter three presents the theoretical part and its implications in the building current
practices. Theories of sustainable development, sustainable building (green architecture
enclosed with examples of its implications), and sustainable use of energy in building sector
and tool of assessing sustainability are offered in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the methodological approach covers a case study research concept
enforced with the qualitative and the quantitative dimensions of such approach all linked to
the study area of this thesis.

Chapter five analyzes the main study area (one of Dubai’s mega- projects).Exploring The
Palm Jumeirah is general information to bring the reader into the context of the study area.
The study area has been narrowed down to investigate one of the main land marks of the Palm
Jumeirah – The Trump International Hotel and Tower-. The chapter also investigates Atkins
Global Company- which designed the Trump – attempts for promoting sustainability in Dubai
context. The chapter has followed with presentation of the outcomes of the study area
illustrated in interview’s and questionnaires’ findings which aimed to highlight the current
building practices in Dubai.

Chapter six includes the discussion part of the thesis. The chapter discusses relation of
findings to important aspects of the thesis problem formulation and delimitations, theoretical
framework and methodological approach. This discussion has been built up in respect of two
main issues; sustainability in a rapid urban development and awareness for sustainability in
terms of energy consumption. The chapter also includes the conclusion out of this discussion,
Scientific significant of the thesis work, illustration of the recommendations and further
research.

The thesis is also followed up with the references of the collected data, lists of figures-
diagrams, matrices, photographs and tables, and appendices.

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Chapter II: Co n t e x t

2.1 Background of Dubai’s urban development

Different urban development has taken place in Dubai’s history. The city with more than 300
years old has started its urbanization process in 1799 with small fishing and trading village in
the Arabian Gulf. In that time a building called Al Fahidi Fort is considered the city’s first
attempt towards urbanization (The United Arab Emirates’ Yearbook, 2006).

The second important period in Dubai’s urbanization history was the British colony in the
nineteenth century. A general treaty of peace has been signed with the British in 1820 until
1833, in this period Dubai was ruled by Abu Dhabi state, then a group of people called Al Bu
Falasah clansmen moved from Abu Dhabi to reside in Dubai and start Dubai’s own identity of
urban development . In that time Al Maktoum family - the current ruling family – settled and
ruled Dubai. Thus, the urban development has been directed and organized according to the
ruling family’s wishes (The United Arab Emirates’ Yearbook, 2006).

The city of Dubai was divided into three district areas: Deira (the main commercial centre),
Shindagha (the main residential area) and Bur Dubai. People of Dubai lived in huts made
from palm fronds and they used to live together in families and relatives.

In 1892, Dubai signed an agreement with the British, giving them an urban presence in Dubai
until 1971, where Dubai gained its independence and started a new phase of the city’s urban
history. The discovery of oil in 1966 accelerated Dubai’s urban development gradually.

In the twentieth century, Dubai started to attract foreign investment by means of knowing the
importance of its natural harbour on the Arabian Gulf connecting the oldest trading routes
between the Far East and Western Europe and become a trading city.

Recently, since the economic diversification strategy has influenced Dubai’s urban
performance, a massive investment in the physical infrastructure is occurring in the city to
meet the increasingly population and tourism demands. At the beginning of 2005, duabi’s
population is estimated about 1.086 million and expected to reach 3 million in 2020 therefore,
a wide range of infrastructure provision is prioritized in Dubai’s urban development (The
United Arab Emirates’ Yearbook, 2006).

Starting with the seven-star Burj Al-Arab hotel which has taken the shape of a sail one of the
important symbols of Dubai’s history, the city is currently constructing superlative
imaginative tourism, residential, industrial, commercial and transportation projects.

Three first massive man-made residential islands called the palms (the palm Jumeirah, the
palm Jabel Ali and the palm Deira) shown in figure (1 -A,B,C)are being constructed in the
coast of Dubai, expanding the ratio of ground to water (seashore) for further coastal
development. These palms projects are attracting world- class hotels, unique retail and
exclusive leisure (www.nakheel.com).

Other imaginary project is the World project, consists of 300 artificial islands in the shape of
the world as shown in figure (1 - D) (www.theworld.ae).Up to 750,000 people will live in
Dubai’s new project called Dubai Water Front. An area with more than 81-million-square

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Metre development and will include diversified zones incorporating 250 master-planned
communities and a down town area, Madinat Al- Arab shown in figure (1 - E)
(www.dubaiwaterfront.ae).
The Arabian Canal, a man – made canal will contain hundreds of communities, districts and
neighbourhoods all provide with entertainment, retail and other facilities shown in figure (1 -
F)(www.nakheel.com).

C

D

E B
A

E

F

Figure 1: Maps of Dubai's mega- projects Source: (nakheel.com)

Dubai city is not only searching for promoting its imaginary projects which expanded it’s
boundaries but also, adding a new dimension to its expansion. Burj Dubai Tower soon will be
the world’s tallest building, consists of residential and leisure projects and will be the
centrepiece of a large area of developments such as ’Downtown Dubai’. As shown in figure
(2) (www.burjdubai.com).

Figure 2: Burj Dubai Tower Source: (burjdubai.com)

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One of the most significant mega-project is Dubai land - shown in figure (3) - An area with
279 million square metres of facilities has been designed to include 50 themed entertainment,
retail and sports facilities and double the size of Disneyland. It will also reside more than
300,000 people and attract almost 200.000 visitors daily. The first phase of the project will be
opened in 2008 and completed in 2020 with a budget of US13.62 billion dollars
(www.dubailand.ae).

Figure 3: Dubai Land Source: (dubailand.ae)

‘Falcon City of Wonders’ is a falcon-shaped project will contain commercial, residential,
educational, entertainment and leisure facilities over an area of 4 million square metres.
These facilities will take the shape of replicas of Pyramids, the hanging Gardens of Babylon,
the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal and Learning Tower of Pisa as shown in figure (4)
(www.falconcity.com).

Figure 4: Falcon City of Wonders Source: (falconcity.com)

Such mega-projects reflect the urbanization trend in Dubai city which could be described as a
prototypical world city’s developments. And also much more developments are occurring in
the city future expansion.

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2.2 The impact of rapid urbanization on

2.2.1 The urban environment

The recent on going developments in Dubai have consequences on the urban environment of
the city and the United Arab Emirates as a whole.

At present, United Arab Emirates has become among the biggest per capita air polluters.
Level of air pollution has increased gradually. It has been listed among the other four nations
in per capita fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide generation. As a result of increasing
the number of tourists and the average population growth, the public demands on natural
resources have also increased (Walters, 2006).

The level of water consumption per capita in the county is considered as the world’s largest
consumers. On the other hand, a prediction of governmental agencies assumed that the level
of water consumption will increase by 44% by 2025. Ground water levels have been dropping
in a rate of one meter every year in the last 30 years. United Arab Emirates are ranked the
world’s second largest producer of desalinated water after Saudi Arabia which is
economically expensive technology (Walters, 2006).

This growing demand on the natural resources has a consequence on the level of waste
generation in the United Arab Emirates. 1,250 kg per capita waste generation is the today’s
figure comparing with 725 kg just before eight hears ago. Therefore, the country is considered
one of the highest per capita generators of trash in the world (Walters, 2006).

Mainly, poor management of urban growth causes environmental damages. Recent evidence
shows the negative impacts on the environment caused by Nakheel, the government-
controlled development agency which is responsible of Dubai’s offshore developments. The
director-general of environment and protected areas of Sharjah (one of the emirates) says,”
the fish died because of construction work on sea where they are building Palm Islands.”
(Walters, 2006)

Congestion on the highways at peak hours seems to be familiar in Dubai which is caused by
traffic jams and regular accidents.

In the recent report on the living planet which is published by WWF( World Wildlife Fund)
on environment in 2003 shows the ecological footprint which measures people’s demands on
natural resources that are produced by the area of biologically productive land and sea and
also required to absorb our waste, shows that the United Arab Emirates is ranked number one
as a country which has the highest ecological foot print. Figure (5) shows the ecological foot
print per person by country in 2003 which includes the cropland, grazing land, forest, and
fishing grounds required to produce the food, fibre, and timber it consumes, to absorb the
wastes emitted in generating the energy it uses, and to provide space for its infrastructure
(WWF, The living planet report 2006)

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Figure 5: Ecological footprint per person, by country, 2003 Source: (WWF, The living planet report,
2006)

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2.2.2 The energy consumption

The rapid urbanization trend in the U.A.E increases the demands on energy production. Oil
and gas are the main energy sources in the country. Meanwhile, generating energy from other
sources is almost rare such as from nuclear power, coal, solar power….etc as shown in figure
(6).

Figure 6: Energy Consumption by source, United Arab Emirates, 1971- 1999
Source: (earthtrends.wri.org)

Oil and gas are used to generate electric power. 65% of energy consumption is for electricity
for demotic uses, 21% for industry and 14% for transportation. The consumption of electricity
increased from 24,306 GW/hour in 1996 to 38,406 GW/ hour in 2001(Federal Environmental
Agency, 2002).
Figure (7) shows the energy consumption trend in the U.A.E caused by the increasing
demands on transportation, industry, commercial and public services, residential and
agriculture.

Figure 7: Energy Consumption, United Arab Emirates, 1971-1999

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Comparing the U.A.E with other countries, the country is listed on the top in consuming
energy per capita as shown in table (1)

Table 1: Energy production and consumption (in thousands metric tons of oil equivalent)


Although the U.A.E has an advantage of intensive sunlight supply most of the year, the use of
solar energy technology is limited.

Considering building practices in terms of its contribution on energy consumption in the
U.A.E, a study has been carried out to examine the state of energy performance of existing
buildings in the U.A.E. The study showed that the average total annual energy use is between
38,232 and 90,494 kWh with an average electrical energy used of 622,314 kWh/year. Thus,
the annual total energy use per m2 is between 120 and 312 kWh. Meanwhile, the average
total annual energy use for domestic buildings in the U.A.E is (212kWh/m2) which is
relatively high as showed in that study (AboulNaga, 2001).

By comparing the total energy use per square meter in a year for buildings in the U.A.E with
buildings from Europe and Asia, the total energy use is between 0.1 and 186 kWh/m2 for
those buildings in Europe and Asia with an average less than (100 kWh/m2).this study
illustrates that the average energy use per area in domestic buildings in the U.A.E is high, and
public buildings in U.A.E show less sustainable measures in terms of energy features, energy
performance and environmental features too (AboulNaga, 2001).

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Chapter III: Th e o r i e s & Im p l i c a t i o n s

3.1 The concept of sustainable development

In the past, the word sustainable has been introduced in parallel with environmental issues,
linked with the damages caused by human activities. Thus, the discussion regarding
sustainability was concerning protecting animals and nature’s species, ensuring the
availability of natural sources, in particular, water and energy sources and the consequences
of our human activities on the environment.
The concept is widened to include other urban disciplines such as transportation, planning,
architecture, management, agriculture which all are taking into consideration sustainable
goals and practices. So sustainability is no longer limited to the field of ecology (Botta, 2005).

The definition of “sustainable development” was widely accepted in 1987 in the Brundtland
Report as:
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
the future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987; Botta, 2005: p 39).

The Brunndtland Commission report helped to set up a common formulation of sustainable
development definition. The report assisted to establishing the first foundation for the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio De Janeiro in 1992 and
also for other global conferences and events (Wheeler, 2004).

The definition contains the concept of “needs” that linked with the essential needs of the less
advantage- nations and the concept of limitations on the environment’s ability to meet present
and future needs which affected by the economic and social development (WCED, 1987;
Wheeler, 2004).Therefore, the economic and social goals must be integrated with
sustainability principles to reach a suitable degree of balanced interaction between
environmental, social and economic development.

The definition also implies a general aim to be achieved but without identifying the means of
achieving the sustainability goals. Rogers and Gumuchdjian (1997) identify seven basic
attributes or policy objectives of sustainable urban development: a just city; a city of easy
contact; a compact and polycentric city; beautiful; creative; ecological and diverse
(Gumuchdjian, 1997; Romaya, 2002)
To achieve those attributes, planning approaches at both city and local levels and means for
assessing the sustainability of proposed development are needed (Romaya,2002).

Sustainable development concept has been further widened in 1999 by the Wuppertal Institute
in Germany in a model called” the prism of sustainability”. This model presented the forth
dimension of sustainable development components; in additional to the environmental, social
and economic aspects, the institutional aspect has been included in the model of sustainable
development. The institutional aspect includes management, regulations and democratic
processes. Therefore, any actions aimed to be sustainable must be taken under consideration
the equal importance of these four components of sustainable development (Botta, 2005).

15

The sustainable development requires:

1- Meeting the basic needs of all human beings and including all opportunities to satisfy their
ambitions for a better life. Such thing will contribute in tackling poverty and inequality which
are main factors in the ecological and other crises in this world.

2- Promoting values that encourage consumption standards that are within the limits of the
ecologically possible and to which all can reasonably hope. Simply because many nations are
living beyond the world’s ecological limits due to the increasing living standards, for instance
patterns of energy use.

3- Economic growth in places where the essential needs are not being met yet. Since
economic growth reflects some principles of sustainability.

4- Increasing productive potential and ensuring equitable opportunities for all to meet human
needs.

5- Demographic developments should be in harmony with the changing productive potential
of the ecosystem. Since the increasing number of people will increase the pressure on
resources and affect negatively on the rise in living standards especially in less available -
resource areas.

6- Not to endanger the natural systems that support life on earth: the atmosphere, the water,
the soil and the living beings. Since the intervention in today’s actions are more extreme in
scale and impact on the environment and more threatening the life-support systems.

7- Ensuring equitable access to the constrained resources and reorient technological efforts to
mitigate the pressure before reaching the ultimate limits of these resources. Since growth has
no limits in terms of population and resource use.

8- The rate of depletion of non-renewable resource such as fossil fuels and minerals should
take into account the availability of such resource and should exclude as few future options as
possible.

9- The convention of plant and animal species since the loss in them will reduce the options
of future generations.

10- The unpleasant impacts on the quality of air, water, and other natural elements are
minimized to sustain the ecosystem (WCED, 1987; Wheeler, 2004).

In general,” sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of
resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and
institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet
human needs and aspirations.”(WCED, 1987; Wheeler, 2004:p.57)

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3.1.1 The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development 1992

The United Nations conference on environment and development which was held in Rio De
Janeiro in 1992 and was known as the” Earth Summit” addressed the issue of sustainable
development and rose up the awareness of public for the need of sustainable development.
The conference came up with a declaration which contains principles for sustainable
development in different areas. Such declaration is widely known as “Agenda 21” (Wheeler,
2004).
The Rio Declaration has introduced different themes regarding sustainable development.
Some of its principles could be mentioned in here which are quoted from (UN, 1992;
Wheeler, 2004, p.59-62):

Principle 1
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to
a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

Principle 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and
environmental needs of present and future generations.

Principle 4
In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall constitute an
integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.

Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should
reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote
appropriate demographic policies.

Principle 9
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable
development by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and
technological knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and
transfer of technologies, including new and innovative technologies.

Principle 10
Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the
relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to
information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including
information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities and the opportunity to
participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public
awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to
judicial and administrative proceedings including redress and remedy shall be provided.

Principle 17
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed
activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are
subject to a decision of a competent national authority.

17

Principle 22
Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role in
environmental management and development because their knowledge and traditional
practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture and interests and
enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable development.

Principle 27
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership in the fulfilment
of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the further development of international
law in the field of sustainable development.

3.1.2 Agenda 21

Agenda 21 is the out put of the Rio De Janeiro conference on Environment and Development
which was held in 1992.This declaration presents directions for sustainable urban
development and leads to the establishment of”Local Agenda 21”.thus most local authorities
have reached to a consensus with their local agencies and population on their own local
agenda 21(Wheeler, 2004).

Promoting sustainable human settlement development is one of the issues that have been
introduced in Agenda 21.The main objective of human settlement is to improve the social,
economic and the environmental quality of human settlements and in the working
environments of all people. Such objective could be achieved by different approaches;
partnerships, participation in the decision-making process and other technical cooperation
activities (UN, 1992; Wheeler, 2004).

In the same issue, Agenda 21 sets different programme areas which are the core of developing
national settlement strategies for countries. These programme areas which are quoted from
(UN, 1992; Wheeler, 2004, p.63) are:

1- Providing adequate shelter for all.
2- Improving human settlement management.
3- Promoting sustainable land-use planning and management.
4- Promoting the integrated provision of environmental infrastructure: water, sanitation,
drainage and solid-waste management.
5- Promoting sustainable energy and transport systems in human settlements.
6- Promoting human settlement planning and management in disaster-prone areas.
7- Promoting sustainable construction industry activities.
8- Promoting human resource development and capacity-building for human settlement
development.

Such declaration provides guild lines for local authorities to set their own local agenda
according to their own national plans and objectives and also according to their social and
cultural capabilities.

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3.1.3 Habitat II

Other declaration on human settlement has followed the Rio De Janeiro declaration, the
united nation conference which was held in Istanbul in 1996 and known as ”Habitat II”
addressed issues of adequate shelters for all and sustainable human settlements development
in an urbanizing world.

Habitat II aimed at strengthening partnerships for actions at the international, national and
local levels to improve the living environment of all humankind. One of the commitments that
have been adopted by the heads of state or government and the official delegations of the
countries which participated in the conference is sustaining the global environment.
Therefore, they committed to sustainable patterns of productions, consumption, transportation
and settlements development. Undertaking of preventing pollution, respecting for the capacity
of ecosystems and preserving the future generations’ opportunities are main issues in this
context (UN, 1996; Wheeler, 2004).

The participants also committed to cooperate in terms of partnerships and different global
contributions in order to conserve, protect and restore the earth’s ecosystem. They committed
to promote the conservation, rehabilitation and maintenance of buildings and other
construction features (UN, 1996; Wheeler, 2004).

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3.2 Sustainable building (Green architecture)

3.2.1 Introduction & Definition

Since the emergence of sustainable development practices, the building sector has been
involved into the participation in sustainability. The effects of a new building or a current
building on environment have been taken into accounts in these days building-design. In the
pervious times, building-design has been adapted to the harmony with the natural
environment while in the modern times environmentally-friendly solutions emerge to lighten
human’s activities and damages on the natural environment and reduce the over-consumption.
The main goals of environmentally-friendly projects are saving natural resources and
reducing pollution (Botta, 2005).

Since the 1970s, many events on sustainability have addressed the significance of the
building-design’s role on reducing the environmental problems of a specific building or
development:

- After the oil crisis in 1973, the reduction of energy consumption by the building sector
has been introduced.
- After the emerging of “sick building syndrome” in the 1980s, the building sector
should take into account a study of “healthy building” techniques.
- After the Rio Conference on the development of the concept of sustainable
development in 1992, the building sector has a key role in understanding such concept
and its implications.
- After the climate debate and the Kyoto protocol in 1997, the building sector has to
reduce greenhouse gases emissions.
- The building sector has a main role to promote equity, democracy and the right to
decent dwellings (Botta, 2005).

Such events have been very significant for the definition of sustainable development in many
environmental programmes. Meanwhile the built environment and building activity have
great responsibilities to reduce its consequences on the environment.

The concept of “sustainable building” has emerged in the 1990s in the Chicago’s World
Congress with a commitment on sustainable building practices. Then the concept has been
developing further in different events such as in the constitution of the Green Building
Council in the U.S.A (Botta, 2005).

Minimizing the impact of a specific new/existing building or a development on the natural
environment and the efforts to improve the ecological performance of an existing building are
the main concerns of the sustainable building concept. However, energy and water efficiency,
natural and economic efficiency, healthy interior environments and the protection of
biodiversity are key issues in the sustainable building developments during the construction
and its operational time (Botta, 2005).

By the emergence of green building standards such as the LEEDS (Leadership for Energy and
Environment Design) standards in 1998, sustainable building practices and building materials
had been engaged into the current construction practices. Architects are now more adaptable
to local climates, materials and traditions in their building design (Wheeler, 2004).

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3.2.2 Principles of sustainable building (Green Architecture)

Many architects have already involved their designs into the process of considering the
ecological and the sustainable architecture approaches. Among those who identified
principles of green architecture or sustainable architecture are the British architects Brenda
and Robert Vale. As other architects and developers who have engaged into proposing these
principles, all of them have almost the same themes which are encouraging designers to
conserve energy and non-renewable energy, consider the local characteristics of a place and to
consider the building users (Wheeler, 2004).

The following principles of green architecture which are identified by Brenda and Robert
Vale could serve as guild lines for architectural practices for more considering the ecological
issues:

Principle 1: Conserving energy

“A building should be constructed so as to minimize the need for fossil fuels to run it.”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.189).

Due to the growing of life standards in the recent decade and the provision of new materials
and technologies, this principle of minimizing the use of energy seems to be ignored or lost.

People used to live in communities to provide more shaded area and cooler air between
buildings. On the contrary, people today are more adapted to the individualism way of life
supported by a policy of cheap energy which encouraged people to use –for instance-
automobiles .such way of life affected on the performance of the traditional community and -
as a consequence- on the ambition for minimizing the use of energy.

Recently, many architectural attempts are more adapted to conserving energy as a main goal
in its performance rather than its dependence on the fusil fuels. Thus those experiments
should be widely recognized as creative experiments for achieving more green architecture
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Principle 2: Working with climate

“Buildings should be designed to work with climate and natural energy sources”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.189).

The idea behind this principle is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels for both warming
and cooling a building. The conventional attempt to reduce such dependence on the fossil
fuels in design building is by using of insulation in the building structure. On the other hand,
new approaches suggest that by making use of building form and the nature of building
elements can provide comfort conditions inside the building (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

In the past time, people used the natural resources such as wood to generate energy, thus the
growing shortage of this resource made them to switch to the use of solar energy to generate
heat. Buildings were more orientated to the winter sun and therefore buildings were more
sensitive for solar design (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Other challenging matter now is making buildings more adapted to warm climates. To
provide comfort cooler atmosphere inside the building, the modern solution affords air
21

conditioning systems which surely consume a lot of energy and increasingly contribute in the
current pollution issues (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Principle 3: Minimizing new resources

“A building should be designed so as to minimize the use of new resources and, at the end of
its useful life, to form the resources for other architecture”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.189)
Obviously, the current built environment requires vast resources in order to meet the demands
on new buildings due to the population and the economic growth in today’s world. This world
has not the sufficient resources that can meet the other generations’ needs to build new
environment if we always adapt demolition and rebuilding to meet those needs. Therefore, the
need for re-using in a form of recycling materials and spaces is much more significant and on
the other hand, rehabilitation and upgrading for minimal the environment impact is also
important (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Unfortunately, those who have an easy access to resources are unlikely adapted to the
approach of re-using existing structures which have been designed for one purpose and that
can suit a different need than its designed purpose. But what if the existing building’s
components have been re-used in different state then other problem emerges here is the
conservation of historical buildings. Many argue that it can still make useful if those buildings
can be conserved in a changed state. Green approach suggests solutions depend on the
resources that if the resources require to modify/change/replace a building are less than for
demolition and rebuilding then the replacement is the solution and this solution also denies
the historical importance of a building (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

However, the total benefits of reusing an existing building that has a historical importance can
ignore the internal concerns and the renovation of existing building can also minimize
resources instead of demolition and rebuilding (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Principle 4: Respect for users

“A green architecture recognizes the importance of all the people involved with it”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.190)

Since different resources are included in the process of making a building, Green architecture
highlights the importance of human beings involvement in the building process. The respect
of users can be illustrated in two forms; for the professional builder, it’s important to realize
the effect of materials and processes that form the building on users, workers and on the
construction site. Thus such materials and processes should have less polluting and dangerous
effect. Therefore, the use of insulating materials that contain CFCs and methods of timber
treatments that contains chemical components has poisoning effect on both workers and
working -site environment and such processes should be eliminated from any green building
practices (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Other form of respecting of users is for recognizing the importance of human participation in
the design and construction process. This value should be further developed in a way that
could increase the level of satisfaction with the construction of a building. In parallel to that,
people should freely engage into the process of design and creating a building (Vale, 1991;
Wheeler, 2004).

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Principle 5: Respect for site

“A building will “touch-this-earth-lightly”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.191)

This phrase illustrates other green principle which highlights the awareness of the interaction
between a building and its site. A building will touch this earth lightly means that in a case of
removing a building from its site, that building could leave it in a condition as it was before
placed there. And it also carries concerns of the materials with which a building was created
with. Therefore, any building consumes heavily energy, creates pollution and eliminates users
does not touch this earth lightly (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Now days, temporary designs and structures for exhibitions, performances and other cultural
events are considered good illustration of this principle because at the end of the event, these
structures could leave the site without any alteration and it could easily be else where (Vale,
1991; Wheeler, 2004).

Principle 6: Holism

“All the green principles need to be embodied in a holistic approach to the built
environment”
(Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004, p.192)

All green principles that have been previously demonstrated can not be easily embodied in a
single building; rather it can be involved into an interaction of systems-systems of playing,
living and working- among buildings that represented into built forms. On the other hand,
green architecture includes not only buildings and its designs but also sustainable form of
urban environment (Vale, 1991; Wheeler, 2004).

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3.2.3 Examples of sustainable building

Many of recent architectural projects have adapted green approaches in its structure and
function. Accordingly architects attempt to find solutions to restraint the accelerative
pollution generated by high dependency on private vehicles, high population growth and other
unsustainable urban practices. The following examples illustrate high performance
environmentally-friendly buildings that undertake advantage of local properties and carry out
the greenly approach in its context.

One of the greenest buildings in the world which is described by
SOM – an American architectural company- is Pearl River
Tower in Guanzhou, China shown in figure (8). It’s a new 69
story, 303 metre tower designed for China National Tobacco
Corp (www.som.com).

Pearl River Tower is designed to be one of the most
environmentally-friendly buildings in the world. The tower
produces as much energy as it consumes and it has a high
performance structure in terms of greenery features; the form of
the building guides winds to push turbines to generate energy for
the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems;
façade- integrated photovoltaic; basement fuel cells which
produce electricity by extracting hydrogen from natural gas; a
condensate reclamation system that collects water and reuses it
and mass ventilation, which captures and uses heat caught
between the building’s façade (www.som.com).

On the hand, the form of the tower with openings façade
provides an important structural element; this opening façade
allows wind to pass through it instead of pressing against it and
that will reduce the external forces on the building’s structure.

Pearl River Tower is expected to be a guide feature for further
environmentally- friendly practices in urban development since
such attempt will highly contribute in reducing the region’s
serious air pollution problems.

Figure 8: Peal River Tower,
Guangzhou, China
Source: (som.com)
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Other example which illustrates attempts to enhance sustainable building practices at the
district scale is the Kronsberg Ecological District in Hannover-Germany. This
neighbourhood is designed as model for the 2000 World Expo. It’s the newest growth area in
Hannover which demonstrates sustainable dimensions in its construction (Wheeler, 2004).

Kronsberg District as shown in figure (9) has a lot of
sustainable features in terms of the following;

- Its form; multi family houses are located within a
traffic- calmed zone (30 km/h) which are very
accessible with a new tram linked with the city’s tram
system. Additionally to that, bike lanes and onsite car
sharing are provided.
- Its new town hall; is constructed from sustainable
materials, PVs on its rooftop and other services
specializing in the environment.
- Innovative systems for storms water collection and
then for treatment bioswales which serves as a green
feature and a delightful pathway. Consequently, water
is always available for the district’s use.
- The use of green rooftops, green country yards and
water features.
- Its energy features which include; low-energy
standard homes, two combined heat and power plants,
three wind turbines and solar energy technologies such
a centralized solar hot water heating system.
- It has an ecological farm.
- Sustainable landscape management plan.
- And it has a green elementary school (Wheeler, 2004).

Kronsberg district has numerous ecological- friendly impacts
firstly on its residents and on Hannover city as a whole. This
project has added a successful attempt to enhance sustainable
building practices and emerges the ecological, social and
economical benefits for Kronsberg’s community.

Figure 9: Images from Kronsberg
Hannover, Germany
Source: (oekoiedlungen.de)

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3.3 Sustainable use of energy in buildings sector

Most of urban cities need dynamic natural resources to consume and operate its system. Thus,
the way of consumption and the use of energy in urban agglomerations represent the most
challenges to urban sustainability.

Reducing consumption of energy - particularly- which is generated by non-renewable fossil
fuels is also crucial to urban sustainability. Therefore, other energy sources (renewable energy
sources) such as wind power, solar power, geothermal energy, biomass conversion (from
organic material) and ...Etc provides more understanding of ecosystems functioning to reduce
the side effects of cities urbanization (Wheeler, 2004).

Energy sources have a significant role in operating cities. Since the world wide accelerating
demands on energy especially fossil fuel, the demand increased five times more in the last 50
years with 85 percent of the world’s energy provision. Therefore the dependence on fusil
fuels is embrace which is happening mainly within cities (Girardet, 1999; Wheeler, 2004).

The increasing awareness of the consequences of energy demands on the environment such as
the global warming and acid rains highlights the need for developing strategies for sustainable
use of energy which is crucial. On the other hand, there is a relationship between large cities
with high living standards and high levels of energy consumption especially in cities where
car use is the dominant, urban sprawl and air travelling. Thus, a major contribution to solving
air pollution problems could be achieved by reducing the urban energy consumption
(Girardet, 1999; Wheeler, 2004).

To achieve sustainable use of energy, energy conservation which could be obtained by a
combination of energy efficiency and efficient energy supply systems is essential. Improving
the energy efficiency by adapting national strategies carries many advantages in different
aspects; reducing fuel bills, decreasing the need for imports and then consequently assisting in
the trade balance, the energy efficiency industry increases the creation of new jobs in this
sector, decreasing the demand for fossil fuels and contributing to mitigating the
environmental problems (Girardet, 1999; Wheeler, 2004).

Many countries have experienced and benefited from applying energy efficiency strategies
combined with efficient supply systems for instance, Scandinavian countries have a deep
experience in reducing its dependence on fossil fuels by adopting such combination.

The conventional energy supply systems such as for electricity supply which is generated by
coal-fired stations are only 34% efficient meanwhile, modern gas-fired stations are slightly
better with 40-50% efficient. New systems/ technologies of energy efficiency could be
applied to increase the overall energy efficiency. The following new systems of energy
efficiency are gradually used in many countries;

- Combined heart and power systems (CHP): these systems capture the wasted heat
from burning and distribute it through district heating systems. Therefore, CHPs are
80% efficient and increasingly used in many European cities for instance in Finland,
34 per cent of the electricity is produced by such systems. Meanwhile in Helsinki, they
have developed CHP systems further to capture more of the wasted heat from coal-
fired power station and used it to heat 90 per cent of its buildings. On the other hand
they also have compact land use patterns which made district heating wildly viable.

26

- Photovoltaic modules (PV): they are significant technologies that have been recently
used on the buildings roofs to produce electricity from solar panels. Based on an
evidence from the oil company BP, London, its calculations show that by using PV
modules on the roofs and walls of London’s’ buildings, the city could supply most of
its summer electricity needs. The production cost of PV modules make them slowly
spreading but on the contrast, large scale production will reduce the unit cost.

- Fuel cells: it’s another cleaner technology to produce electricity from converting
Hydrogen, natural gas or methanol into electricity by a chemical process without any
need for burning. Fuel cells are used now in operating generators, power stations,
buses cars and trucks. By also adopting a large scale commercial production will
reduce the unit cost of this technology.

- Combined photovoltaic modules with fuel cells: it’s a further development of
producing cleaner energy by combining photovoltaic modules with fuel cell. The
photovoltaic modules are used to generate electricity to produce hydrogen from
splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen and using hydrogen which could be stored to
run fuel cells power stations.

- Heart pumps

- Solar hot water systems (Girardet, 1999; Wheeler, 2004).

In terms of the efficient use of energy, new energy policies are needed to improve the energy
industry and generating more efficiency. Evidently, that larger improvement in power
distribution and consumption could be attained by cities in which the municipality owns the
electricity company as in Toronto and Amsterdam (Girardet, 1999; Wheeler, 2004).

So a combination between adapting new technologies to produce energy efficiency such as
renewable energy systems and the efficient use of energy will reduce dramatically the
negative impact on the urban environment and contribute deeply in sustaining the use of
energy.

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3.4 Tool for Assessing Sustainability

Assessing sustainability of a development is a key issue for developers, decision makers,
environment advocators...etc. it may help them to evaluate the performance of a project or a
development, improve its performance and on the final hand enhance sustainable urban
development.

To evaluate an urban development proposal, international guidelines on acceptable or
desirable levels of indicators - such as in UK- could be identified, for instance, as for air or
water pollution. Edwards and Hyett (2001) develop a sustainability tool with themes related to
urban settlements. For projects and developments, indicators can measure some factors
related to environmental sustainability such as the use of land or water, transportation, energy
for heating or ventilation and use of building materials. Meanwhile, the desirable or
acceptable level of resource consumption is not constant because it is vary from place to place
and it depends on existing level of development, consumption and pollution. For example, the
consumption level of water is vary from Africa to UK; in Africa 87 per cent of water is used
for agriculture however 56 per cent of water in UK is for demotic use (Romaya, 2002).

So by using a sustainability matrix which has been developed by Edward and Hyett, the
impacts of a proposed project or development on specific aspect of sustainability can be
measured. Table (2) is an illustration of such matrix.

Table 2: Evaluation matrix for assessing the impact of a development on sustainability
Theme Factor Evaluation* Weight** Sustainability score
Energy Heating Very good (5) Important (5) 5 ×5 = 25
Construction Average (3) Important (5) 3 × 5 = 15
Transport Poor (2) Very important (6) 2 × 6 = 12
Land Agriculture Average (3) Very important (6) 3 × 6 = 18
Housing Average (3) Ambivalent (3) 3×3=9
Water Industry Good (4) Essential (7) 4 × 7 = 28
Total sustainability score = 107

* Evaluation on 5-point scale: very good (5), good (4), average (3), poor (2), very poor (1).
** Weight on 7-point scale: essential (7), very important (6), important (5), significant (4),
ambivalent (3), limited significant (2), insignificant (1).
Source: (Romaya, 2002, p. 187)

In column 1, key themes or natural resources have been identified such as energy, land and
water in this particular case. Then for each of these natural resources, existing or proposed
uses have been also identified as factors in column 2. In column 3, a comparable evaluation
approach based on ranking from 1-5 has been provided for assessing the existing or proposed
development satisfies sustainability requirements for each indicators. Then in column 4, each
indicator is weighted according to its importance such as an economic priority. In column 5,
scores for each weighted indicator have been provided and finally, the sum of these weighted
indicators’ scores is an overall estimate of the impact of a proposed development on the
sustainability (Romaya, 2002).

28

Such evaluation matrix which has been illustrated in table (2) can be used in two studies
before and after the development occurs or likely to occur to provide an evaluation of the
impact of such development on the sustainability and also to illustrate the degree of change.

So after getting the total sustainability scores from the two evaluation matrixes, table (3)
provides an analysis of the effect of development on sustainability. In both columns 2 and 3,
values from the previous two evaluation studies have been added with respect to each
individual factor and parallel to this, the percentage of change has been demonstrated for
these factors. According to the percentage change of each individual factor; enhancement
sustainability means increasing in the value of after-development score and degradation in
sustainability means decreasing in the value of after- development score. Thus, by comparing
the total evaluation scores before and after development in this particular example, there is an
increasing in the value of after- development score by two per cent and that means the post-
development shows an improvement on sustainability terms (Romaya, 2002).

Table 3: Analysis of the effect of development on sustainability (notional values)
Evaluation Percentage
Factor Before After Enhancement Degradation
Development Development
Heating 25 20 - 20
Construction 15 20 33 -
Transport 12 15 25 -
Agriculture 18 18 - -
Housing 9 12 33 -
Industry 28 24 - 14
Total 107 109 2
Source: (Romaya, 2002, p. 187)

This tool of assessing sustainability shows the impact of a proposed development on the
environment and it also provides significant data for improving the decision-making process
in terms of urban development to enhance sustainable building practices.

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Chapter IV: Me t h o d o l o g i c a l Ap p r o a c h

4.1 A case study research

A case study research is a way to investigate cases of human activities. These cases can be
single cases such as an individual, a group, an institution, a large- scale community or a
multiple cases such as different projects, single parents. In a case study research, researchers
try to answer specific research questions which need different kind of evidences that exist in
the case setting. (Gillham, 2000)

The use of multiple sources of evidence and the uncertainty of prioritizing a theoretical notion
(since researches won’t know what theories make the most logical sense) - are the key
characteristics of a case study research. (Gillham, 2000)

A case study method empowers researchers of specific human phenomena to highlight issues
that would be hardly covered by using other methods; a case study method is well- suited to
the complexity and specificity of real- life phenomena, a case study method has an inductive
theorizing style, i.e. making sense of the researchers findings, a case study searches for the
qualitative elements of the collected data to give meaning for the results, a case study method
pays great attention to the both subjective and objective evidences (what people do, what
records show, and so on), a case study method enables researches to participate and
acknowledge their role in what they discover, a case study method has its own dynamic and
has effects on individuals and institutions because the role of the researcher of asking
questions, clarifying procedures and collecting data.(Gillham, 2000)

The main methodological approach in this thesis is an investigation of a case study which is
one of Dubai’s urban developments. As it has been mentioned before, Dubai’s has exercised
many mega-projects; one of these projects is The Palm Jumeirah which is considered the first
mega man- made island. Different kinds of projects are taken place at The Palm Jumeirah.

Due to the time constrain of collecting data and the difficulties that I have faced to gather
such information, only one main project of The Palm Jumeirah will be analyzed and presented
as a case study; The Trump International Hotel and Tower. The reason behind choosing
this project refers to the importance of such development which is considered among the land
marks of The Palm Jumeirah and the main centerpiece of the Trunk.

4.2 The qualitative dimension

Qualitative methods of collecting data in the case study research have a significant value and
they focus on the kind of data (what people say and do) and that will give explanations of
what is going on. Thus, qualitative methods are descriptive and often considered as soft.
(Gillham, 2000)

On the other hand, qualitative case studies are often “the preferred strategy when “how” or
“why” questions are being posed, when the investigator has little control over events, and
when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context” (Yin,
1994:p.1)
.

30

The qualitative methods of collecting data enable researchers to:

1- To carry out an investigation where other methods – such as experiments- are not
practicable.
2- To investigate situations where little is known about what is there or what is going on.
3- To explore complexities which are beyond the scope of more (controlled) approaches.
4- To get under the skin of a group or organization to find out what really happens- the
informal reality which can only be perceived from the inside.
5- To view the case from the inside out: to see it from the perspective of those involved.
6- To carry out research into the process leading to results rather than into the
significance of the results them selves. (Gillham, 2000:p.11)

Examples of qualitative methods of collecting data are like interviewing, observations,
document analysis, and literature studies.

Interviews have been carried out with key- persons from Atkins Middle East (WS Atkins &
Partners overseas- Dubai) which is the main consultant in the The Trump International Hotel
and Tower at The Palm Jumeirah. Those key- persons are in the following positions:
Managing director, Client director, Commercial director, Resident director. They
recommended me to contact An Associate Director (senior design architect) with whom I had
the interview. The interview questions highlighted the company’s building practices, their
awareness for sustainability and the main sustainable features in the Trump hotel and Tower.
See appendix (2)

Data has been also collected from the official web site of NAKHEEL (www.nakheel.com)
which is the main developer of The Palm Jumeirah. These data provides information about
the island, exploring the island, the construction of the island and environment concerns.
Different documents and literatures have been utilized for collecting data as well.

4.3 The quantitative dimension

Quantitative methods of collecting data are described as those which involve counting and
measuring such as statistics. Statistics are two kinds; descriptive and inferetial. An example of
descriptive statistics is avarages which descripe data in a summary setting. Meanwhile;
inferential statistics enable researchers to draw meaningful and significant inferences from
qualitative data. (Gillham, 2000)

In this context, questionnaires have been distributed aimed to provide data of the current
architectural practices in Dubai’s urban developments. The practitioners have been asked
about their concerns of sustainable development, green architecture, adapting to the local
climate in their designs and other concerns. This questionnaire is enclosed in the appendix.

The demonstration of this case study is mainly for testing the viability of the presented
theories above in the theoretical chapter. Theories of sustainable development, green
architecture, sustainable use of energy and tools for assessing sustainability will be tested in
this case study and find out the current performance of the two chosen projects in terms of
sustainability.

31

Chapter V: An a l y s i s & Re s u l t s
5.1 Exploring The Palm Jumeirah

The Palm Jumeirah is a man- made island which is located on the coastal area of Dubai. The
palm is built in the shape of a symbolic feature- a palm tree- that is widely existed in the
United Arab Emirates. It measures 5km² and has added 78.6km to the country’s 72km
coastline. The Palm Jumeirah is primarily a residential area for living, relaxation and leisure.
(www.nakheel.com)

The Palm Jumeirah is a result of five years planning and land reclamation, years of
researches, trials, surveys and environmental assessments were carried out. Many well-known
international construction companies and consultants have been approached to carry out
construction tests to establish this mega-project.

The construction of the Palm started in 2002; the first task was to establish the breakwater to
protect the reclaimed land from the strong winds of the Arabian Gulf. This task was created
by using rocks instead of concrete slabs and that for encouraging the creation of a natural reef.

The next step was the land reclamation; the main difficulty in this stage was the positioning
of places where the sand must be located since there were no fixed points of land to survey.
Therefore, engineers had to use the DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) with
accuracy to 1 cm. the sand was taken from the sea since it is more environmentally
sustainable which allows marine life to grow, more than the sand from the Dubai deserts.

After the land reclamation, the next step was to prepare the artificial island for occupation,
installation of desalination plants; wastewater treatment, underground power lines and the
construction of a transport network all were taken place in the island.

The Crescent

The Fronds

The Marinas

The Golden The Shoreline
Mile Apartments

The Trunk

Figure 10: The main divisions of The Palm Jumeirah
Source: (nakheel.com)

32

The Palm Jumeirah consists of the following. (As shown in figure 10)

1- The Trunk

It’s the heart of the Palm Jumeirah which contains projects for living, retail and tourism. The
Trunk has a canal that carries water along the centre of the trunk and it also contains a
monorail that connects the island parts. The Trunk has features which are shaping a new icon
for Dubai city;

A- The shoreline apartments, it’s a residential
area provides 2,650 new apartments
ranging between 1 to3 bedroom unites and
it also contains 80 luxurious penthouses.
The shoreline apartments have five
exclusive beachfront clubhouses and other
facilities. (www.nakheel.com) ( shown in
figure 11)
Figure 11: The Shoreline Apartments

B- The Golden Mile, a commercial and
residential area which comprises 200
retail outlets and 10 waterfront residential
buildings that hold 860 unites of
townhouses, 1- 3 bedroom apartments and
penthouses. ( shown in figure 12)

Figur 12: The Golden Mile
C- The marinas, it contains the Village Centre
with 68,000sqm of retail and commercial
and more than a thousand apartments and
townhouses. The Marinas also offers 750
berths for private vessels between 10 and
16 meters in length at both sides of the
Trunk and other 400berths for private

vessels between 12 and 16 meters in Figure 13: The Marinas
length. ( shown in figure 13) Source: (nakheel.com)

D- Trump International Hotel and Tower, it
will be the centre piece of The Palm
Jumeirah’s trunk, including residential and
hotel element. ( shown in figure 14)

Figure 14: Trump International Hotel and
Tower Source: (nakheel.com)

33

2- The Fronds

The Fronts are the main exclusive residential area
of the Palm Jumeirah, 17 fronts will habitat more
than 8,000 residents in their own villas with
exclusive beaches (shown in figure 15). Each
villa has its own garden fronted by an expensive
white sand beach. The expected residents will
move into their homes at the end of 2006.
(www.nakheel.com) Figure 15: Fronts villas

3- The Crescent

In additional to its function as breakwater, The 11
kilometre Crescent that surrounds the island is
also a home to 22 of the most leading hotels and
resorts in the world ( shown in figure 16 ). Each
of these hotels provides its own unique style and
services. One of these brand hotels is Atlantis; a
$1.2 billion comprises 1500 room and its own Figure 16: The Crescent
water- themed resort. (www.nakheel.com) Source: (nakheel.com)

34

5.2 The Trump International Hotel and Tower

5.2.1 The project features

A new architectural landmark located on the
center part of The Trunk of The Palm Jumierah.
The Trump International Hotel and Tower (shown
in figure 17 ) is a more than 255m tall and 60
stories building designed by Athins global
company. The project features a 300-room five-
star hotel, 400 residential apartments, offices,
retail, and leisure facilities such as a gym, spa,
private beaches and a number of restaurants.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is
designed in asymmetrical halves with stainless
steel, glass and stone facades. The open core in
the middle of both linked buildings is an
innovative feature to minimize the shadows. The
building gives the sense of infinity at the top of
each tower where the glazed elements blur
building.

On the other hand, the Trump International Hotel
and Tower more slender design allows for a
linear view through the building to the top of the
island and provides panoramas of the island,
Dubai and Arabian Gulf.

This project is considered among the unique
projects which are at the forefront of innovation.
Since Nakheel has the commitment to create
unique projects to match the vision of Dubai, the
Trump International Hotel and Tower is a result
of those commitments. Sultan Ahmed bin
Sulayem stats "The new design of the Trump
International Hotel and Tower lives up to this
commitment and will provide a fitting landmark
centrepiece for The Palm Jumeirah, our flagship
development.

The project came up as a result of a partnership
between Nakheel Corporation and The Trump
international organization.

Figure 17: Images for The Trump
International Hotel and Tower
Source: (atkinsdesign.com)

35

5.2.2 Attempts for sustainability

The trump international and tower has been designed by a leading international
multidisciplinary design firm called Atkins which has a regional branch based in Dubai.
Atkins Middle East has released an international awareness programme on sustainability in
construction which emerging plans for integrating sustainable features into the built
environment, not only just through design but also all aspects of business.

“We put sustainability high on the agenda in every project we are involved in” Said Regional
Head of Technology Richard Smith. (www.atkins-me.com)

Atkins attempts through investing in various
areas of projects to ensure a long term benefits in
energy savings, reduction in operating costs and
better environment. The Bahrain World Trade
Centre project - as shown in figure (18) - is
obvious evidence exhibiting Atkins attempts
toward its strategic plans. The project featuring
the ultimate use of wind and solar power
integrated into the design.

Atkins signed an agreement with British
University in Dubai (BUiD). Through this
partnership, Atkins contributes to research in the
field of sustainability in the built environment.
Continuously, Atkins funds BUiD’s Institute of Figure 18: Bahrain World Trade Centre
Built Environment which is aimed at highlighting Source: (atkinsdesign.com)
key sustainability concepts in every aspect of building (including materials, design and
structure) to reduce the impact of the construction and management of buildings on the
environment associated with the contribution to carbon emissions and consumption of
resources. (www.atkins-me.com)

“This partnership between one of the world’s largest design and engineering consultancies
and the British University reflects the important contribution that universities and businesses
can make to our wider society and communities,” said Dr Bassam Abu-Hijleh, Senior
Lecturer and Head of BUiD’s Institute of the Built Environment. (www.atkins-me.com)

“Aside from the ecological benefits and positive publicity that a sustainable design approach
brings, many of industry’s leaders find that sustainability has become an invaluable vehicle
for exploring ways to re-invent themselves and reduce costs, manage risks better and drive
fundamental internal changes in culture, structure and quality of life,” continued Dr. Bassam.
(www.atkins-me.com)
This agreement will also make BUiD’s built environment one of the groups of
multidisciplined academic consultants in the world able to delivery advising on integrated
sustainable design solutions for urban and built environments. (www.atkins-me-com)

Atkins, through emerging sustainability awareness into the design process, invests in
employing specialists such as house physicists working side by side with architects to ensure
any possibilities to apply sustainable environmental solutions into projects. Architects- now
days- consider many sustainable aspects in every project such as orientation, insulation and
integrating wind turbines and solar power. (www.atkins-me.com)

36

Atkins is trying through integrating sustainable solutions into building practices, to establish
the first platform for long term change towards sustainable building practices in the region.

“Atkins is proud to offer a wealth of services to our clients which combines cutting edge
solutions with tried and tested technologies to design systems, processes, buildings and civil
structures. It is here that BUiD’s advanced built environment research will be used to its
fullest,” said Tim Askew, Managing Director, Atkins Middle East. (www.atkins-me-com)

5.2.3 An interview

An interview has been carried out with a key- person (as mentioned before) from Atkins
Global Company aimed to obtain qualitative data concerning the development. The interview
questions deal with issues of sustainable building practices to reduce the impact of building
on the environment. It also includes a direct question about the sustainable features in the
project and other concerns. See appendix (2)

5.2.3.1 Presenting the findings (sustainable features)

According to the preminiraly design report of The Trump International Hotel and Tower
section 11 (building physics and sustainability), the building will reduce its impact on the
environment through significant design and engineering services. Thus, reducing the
consumption level of energy, water, natural resources and the loads on the building are main
issues that will be mitigated through applying innovative systems in different aspects of
engineering services in the building design. The following procersures present those attempts
for sustainable building design which are aimed to reduce the impact on the environment;

1- Facade design

Through a careful design of the building’s facades, the energy consumption can be minimized
by using passive design techniques and recovery strategies. The following techniques have
been utilized during the designing phase of the Trump International hotel and tower;

• Solar shading and its impact on cooling loads

A reduction in air conditioning loads of the building means a reduction in energy
consumption as a whole. Thus, shading glass of the facades is a way for reducing the solar
gain through windows and therefore reducing the air conditioning loads on the building.

Designers of the Trump international Hotel and Tower carried out studies of optimising the
use of shading through studying sun falls on the building in different times of the year. Figure
(19) shows summary of optimum shading design on towers.

37

Summer sun path
Winter sun path

Figur 19: shading design for the towers Source: (Atkins Middle East)

The full study of shading design has been attached in the appendix part of this thesis- see
appendix (3) – this study also shows the solar access on facades during different times of the
year.
Figure (20) shows a sample of this study which presents the optimum use of shading by using
louvers with different dimensions during the sun of June 21st.

One louvre per floor: Intermediate louvres at 1,200mm Intermediate louvres at 1,200mm
centres centres
700mm primary floor 700mm primary floor 600mm for all
400mm secondary floor 400mm secondary floor
400mm intermediate
15:00h June 21st – little shading 15:00h June 21st – 60% shading 15:00h June 21st – 100% shading

Figure 20: shading of the south facade of the south tower source: (Atkins Middle East)

On the other hand, other study has been taken place to investigate the effect of shading
devices on the cooling loads of the building. The following sample - figure (21) - represents
this effect of shading on a chosen room facing the south side of the building.

38

No shading 200mm x 3 500mm + 300mm x 2 600mm x 3
worst case minimal shading possible design option ideal shading
Figure 21: The effect of shading devices on a tested room Source: (Atkins Middle East)

This room has been tested under two different peak conditions on August 15th (peak wet
condition with 27°C and peak dry 46°C) where the solar loads are at the peak values. This
occurs at 17:00h and 15:00h (the sun is higher and then shading is more effective).The
following table (4) shows the improvement on shading loads which minimize the cooling
loads - and thereby the cooling energy- , the running costs and the carbon dioxide emissions
of the building.
Table 4: The resulting shading loads to the room
17:00h Solar % improvement 15:00h solar % improvement
Load from no shading Load from no shading
No shading 1,729W - 1,451W -
200/200/200 1,535W 15% 1,025W 29%
500/300/300 1,311W 27% 755W 48%
600/600/600 1,101W 42% 641W 56%
Source: (Atkins Middle East)

• Glazing
Glass selection according to its properties has a significant effect on the cooling loads of the
building and, thereby, on the level of energy consumption. The following table (5) shows the
effect of using different glass properties on the cooling loads of the same tested room in the
last model. Values of U-value and shading coefficient should be low to ensure minimum
cooling loads on the building.
Table 5: Glass properties and the impact on the cooling loads
U-value Shading Visual Light Peak Total Improvement
Coefficient Transmission Load on minimum
Minimum 2.1W/m²K 0.35 Not specified 4,475W -
requirement
CoolRAY 1.4W/m²K 0.32 52% 4,040W 10%
Carat
CoolRAY 1.4W/m²K 0.25 40% 3,671W 18%
Galaxy
CoolPANE 1.4W/m²K 0.20 17% 3,436W 23%
PB20

Source: (Atkins Middle East)

39

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